Baltimore Ravens should consider signing Charles Clay

The Baltimore Ravens love tight ends and Charles Clay is a bargain free agent that makes sense for them:

With the Baltimore Ravens love of using three tight ends, Charles Clay is an interesting option in free agency. He wouldn’t break the bank and he’s a versatile player who would fit right in the offense. Clay used to play for the Buffalo Bills when Greg Roman was the offensive coordinator and that familiarity may make Clay the Ravens target if they want to add another tight end.

The Ravens used a lot of each of their three tight ends last season. With Hayden Hurst being a member of the Atlanta Falcons the Ravens trio has become a duo of Mark Andrews and Nick Boyle. Last year Boyle had 31 receptions and Hurst had 30. If the Ravens don’t feel that Jacob Breeland or Eli Wolf will step up into the third tight end job, they have an incentive to go find somebody.

Clay entered the league in 2011. He spent his first four seasons with the Miami Dolphins. Before one season with the Arizona Cardinals, he spent four years with the Bills. Clay had 18 receptions for 237 yards and a touchdown last year. The year before that he had 21 grabs for 184 yards. From 2015-2017, Clay was good for about 50 receptions a season. He’s always been a capable blocker, which is a good selling point for the Ravens.

The Cardinals spent the 2019 season experimenting with the air raid offense in the NFL. That wasn’t a great fit for Clay. The Ravens would be the perfect spot for the veteran tight end. He could be a low key addition that would help the Ravens do exactly what made them so good in 2019. Clay could be exactly what Hurst was for this offense. It could be a true replacement.

Clay can be a workhorse tight end who can line up all over the place and block like crazy, while chipping in 20-30 receptions. He’s stayed relatively healthy over the course of a long career. He’s played in at least 13 games every year of his career. If the Ravens brought in Clay, it would be a low risk move at a bargain. They would be adding a tight end with nine years of experience.

The Ravens will probably get more from their wide receivers in 2020, yet there will still be plenty of need for three capable tight ends. The third tight end in Baltimore is more important than the third receiver of some teams. Baltimore looks at tight ends differently than just about every team in the NFL because their offense is so unique. It’s the one position that you know Lamar Jackson loves to target in the passing game. That’s a lot to put on an undrafted free agent. Clay could be a true replacement to Hurst, and if it weren’t to work out it wouldn’t cost all that much.

The Ravens are a very loaded team. For the most part they have everything taken care of. Adding a third tight end is an underrated need. Clay’s career could find new life if the Ravens give him a call. Clay is definitely and under the radar free agent to keep an eye on.